To this, Marie willingly assented, but she insisted that she could not make the trip alone over the rugged Sierra Madre mountains; that she had nearly famished crossing them the first time. Aguinaldo therefor fitted out a little expedition consisting of eight Filipinos, in addition to Marie, and a pack-train of fourteen ponies to accompany her over the divide. Nine of the animals were for riding purposes; the other five were to pack the supplies,--three of them for the outward trip, two for the incoming. In addition to the rice which they took along, they were instructed to forage as much as possible. On December 9, the party started out on their perilous undertaking. A point far up on the mountain slope, near a refreshing mineral spring, having been reached on December 17, the party halted and established a sub-base for their return trip. It was evident to them that they had struck the wrong trail and were going to be compelled to send Marie back through a different gorge from the one by which she and her associates had come over a few months before. Here the party divided into two relays--one to accompany Marie close to the top of the mountains, the other to remain where it was until her guides returned. At this temporary base three Filipinos and two pack-horses were left. The Filipinos thus left behind were instructed to hunt and trap all they could till their comrades returned. The on-going squad, consisting of Marie and five native soldiers, took with them their six riding ponies and three of the pack-horses. They departed from their comrades early in the morning, December 18. By night of the second day they had gotten so near the crest they could plainly discern that in one long march Marie could cross the divide and get a safe distance down the slope on the opposite side. Coming to an old stone church they dismounted and established themselves for the night. It was December 19,--the anniversary of Lawton's death. Marie remarked about it. This old church had partly fallen down. Vines and mosses had so interlaced themselves in climbing over its rocky walls and across its openings that they had to be cut away by the unwelcome intruders before they could gain an entrance. The stone cross on the front gable was still in place; but the old mahogany door had long since been torn from its hinges by the mountain storms, and it lay in a state of decay on the ground. An earthquake had destroyed part of the roof, and had caused the west wall to become inclined and to crumble. Within, one end of the old altar was still found to be intact. The priest's pulpit chair had become ivy-mantled, and one handle had rotted from its fastenings and had fallen to the floor. Statues of the Saints had pitched from their moorings in the alcoves along the walls and were lying face-downward or standing on their heads amid the debris below.